Jon Gary Williams
Articles / Resources

In the late
1700s and on into the 1800s, there arose people from within religious
denominational ranks who saw the need for rejecting the man-made
doctrines and practices that divided them. Their desire was to go all
the way back to the New Testament pattern of the church and restore it
to its original, unadulterated state.

Throughout the 1800s and into the
1900s, the efforts of these few grew into a rapidly spreading
restoration movement. The many errors of man-made religions were being
exposed - - doctrines such as total depravity (babies are born in sin),
infant baptism, special election (God selects those to be saved), the
saved can never be lost (once saved, always saved), sprinkling for
baptism, salvation by faith alone and a host of other unscriptural
teachings.

Many, upon discovering their errors, were abandoning these
denominational teachings to become a part of the restored "church of
Christ" (Romans 16:16). It was a unique experience to be a part of the
church as it existed in the first century. People were realizing they
could be Christians without being attached to any denomination. The call
to be united in the one true church was resonating far and wide. How
wonderful it was for them to belong to Christ's church as it was in the
very beginning - - to be added to it upon their obedience to the gospel
of Christ and to work and worship according to the pattern of the New
Testament.

As we reflect upon this amazing restoration story, we are made to
realize how truly blessed we are today to have the good fortune in this
century of belonging to the church Jesus established so long ago. This
is a treasure beyond our dreams. We should be ever thankful for the
efforts of those dedicated Christians who went before us to help restore
Christ's church.

Now consider a question. What made it possible for the Lord's church
to be restored and expand so rapidly? The answer, of course, lies in
the fact that plain, Biblical truths were being expounded and people
could see the difference between the scriptures' teaching about the
church and what the vast array of denominations were advocating.

Yet, how was this teaching being accomplished? And herein lies the
key to why the restoration was so successful. The answer involves one
key ingredient: religious debates!

From its beginning, the restoration plea was built largely upon
religious discussions - - debates which regularly engaged preachers of
the various denominations. In these debates people were being exposed to
truths about the Lord's church which they had never before heard.
Gospel preachers considered these debates as pulpits - - platforms from
which they could explain to their audiences the distinctive nature of
the church as found in the scriptures. In these arenas of discussion,
people were able to distinguish between their religious affiliations and
the one true New Testament church. From the mid-nineteenth and into the
twentieth century, the positive effect of these debates was immense,
opening the door for more and more people to learn about the Lord's
church.

- - - - -

Debate Reports Preserved - Dating Back To 1900A Treasure Chest Of Restoration History

In 1989, an old friend and gospel preacher passed on to me a large
collection of 5x8 cards containing hand-written notes. These cards had
been given to him several years earlier by a yet older preacher. My
friend, being well up in years at the time, gave the collection to me in
hopes that I might make use of them. He gave me no details about the
collection in general, nor did he give me the name of the brother who
produced these old documents. I initially made no real effort to examine
the cards, assuming them to be an old collection of sermon or class
notes of some kind, so I stored them away with plans of someday taking a
closer look.

As we all know, time flies! Twenty years later, while cleaning out a
storage area, I came across the box of cards again, and decided to toss
it out along with other various unusable items. But, as good fortune
would have it, this would not be the case. Standing at the trash bin, I
paused long enough to take a closer look. It was then that I was shocked
to discover that these cards were actually brief, concise reports of
religious debates dating back to the year 1900. There were more than
1000 of them! For two decades I had been in the possession of a valuable
reserve of restoration history, and I still shudder to think that it
came so close to being discarded.

Included in these reports are records of some of the early debates
of M. C. Kurfees, W. T. Boaz, N. B. Hardeman, John B. Hardeman, H. Leo
Boles, F. B. Srygley, J. D. Tant, Joe S. Warlick, S. H. Hall, C. R.
Nichol, G. C. Brewer, J. W. Brewer, A. G. Freed, J. H. Lawson, L. S.
White, A. W. Young, W. T. Beasley and J. R. Bradley, to name only a few.
Most of these reports also contain the names of the men who wrote them -
- men who had attended these debates and were able to give first-hand
information. Some of the reports were drafted by the men who had
conducted or moderated the debates.

The brother who had gathered these reports must have been quite well
known, considering he made contact with these many different preachers,
regarding such a wide variety of debates, and over so many years.
Evidently desiring to keep these reports in a unified form, he had
carefully sorted and copied the contents in his own handwriting,
apparently with some special purpose in mind.

Since a number of the cards have a notation of being "used," I
suspected they may have been intended for publication - - possibly in
the Gospel Advocate. And sure enough, in checking the microfilms of past
Gospel Advocate issues, I found that some of these reports had indeed
been published. For many years this brother had supplied the Advocate
with a number of these debate reports. Sadly though, all attempts to
determine the identity of this good brother have failed.

As I
read through the 1000+ hand-written reports, the significance of these
debates loomed before me. Exploring and examining these reports was an
education in itself, for I discovered things that had escaped me. I had
simply been unaware of the great number of debates that had actually
taken place. And furthermore, I had not discerned the profound impact
they had upon the spread of the Lord's church in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.

How Many Debates Were There?

These debates were not just occasional, random events springing up
now and then. This had been my own impression, but I was terribly
mistaken. The number of debates held between 1900 and the 1950s was
enormous. The one thousand plus debate reports in my possession
represent only a portion of the total number of debates which actually
occurred. And keep in mind that this collection of reports covers a
period of time only back to the year 1900 and does not include the large
number of debates which were conducted during the last half of the
nineteenth century.

Many gospel preachers were said to have conducted dozens of
debates, with some holding as many as fifty or more. It is known that
brother Guy N. Woods participated in at least two hundred - - only
twenty of which are referenced in this collection. We may never gain an
accurate estimation of the total debates conducted back into the late
1800s, but suffice it to say, they numbered into the thousands.

I recently conducted a quick, one-question survey among a large
number of gospel preachers, asking them how many restoration debates
they believed were held between the years 1900 and 1950. The average
response was about 150. This illustrates just how far removed we are
from comprehending the volume of debates that actually occurred, and
consequently, the important role they played in the growth of the
church.

Debates between brotherhood preachers and men representing
denominational groups were common, especially throughout the mid-section
of the country, with some held as far west as California and as far
north as Canada. In some states there were but few counties where
debates had not taken place. During some months, upwards of eight to ten
debates were being conducted somewhere. Debates were not occasional or
incidental happenings - - they were a crucial part of the restoration
movement. Because of them, it is no wonder that thousands of people were
being exposed to Biblical truths they had never before heard.

The Nature And Substance Of The Reports

These one thousand plus debate reports were written as brief
overviews of the debates, rather than as full expositions of the
arguments. However, some are more lengthy. Most reports give the names
of the gospel preachers, the names of their opponents and their
religious affiliations, the dates the reports were made, and with few
exceptions, the locations of the debates and the names of those who
submitted the reports. Also, several of the debates pertain to false
views held by some within the church, such as: instrumental music,
cooperation in evangelism, orphan homes and divided classes.

Reviewing these reports reveals a number of things that help
explain why the debates played such an extremely important role in the
restoration movement. In addition to showing how widespread the debates
were, notice these important facts as revealed in the reports:

A. The debates were held on a high plane. Though
some today may feel that debating only created hostility and was
unproductive, this was not the case. Time and again, these reports
emphasize that the participants conducted themselves as gentlemen and
that the audiences were well behaved. On rare occasions, any bitterness
or rancor displayed was on the part of those who taught false doctrines,
which served only to hurt their cause.

Notice this unique observation
by brother C. R. Nichol, following one of his debates in 1922: "We
need more debates. Every member of the church needs to be indoctrinated;
the fundamental principles need to be grounded in the members. I have
never conducted a debate that did not result in good; and if at the time
of the debate there was not a congregation, one was immediately
established in that place."

B. Gospel preachers did not spend time seeking out opportunities for debate. Rather,
they were sought out to participate in such discussions. First and
foremost they were gospel preachers. But when the need arose to defend
the truth against error, they accepted the opportunity. Many times when
congregations of God's people were challenged by false teachers, the
brethren would contact preachers who they knew could meet the challenge,
inviting them to participate.

C. Preachers considered the debates as pulpits. These
discussions provided them with captive audiences. No matter whom they
were debating, folks from different denominations would be in
attendance. From their "pulpit," these men emphasized the identity of
the church, the oneness of the church, and how it was different from
man-made organizations. They carefully exposed the false ideas of the
various denominational groups. Many people were seeing for the first time
what true New Testament Christianity really was. In a sense, these
preachers looked upon the debates as gospel meetings.

D. Following many of the debates, the preachers were often asked to continue teaching. This
gave them additional time to explain to people more about the church.
Sometimes the debates led to gospel meetings, some of which lasted for
days. Also, many of these debates were reported in newspapers and some
were broadcast by radio. Additionally, following the debates many home
Bible discussions were created, enabling members of the church to teach
their neighbors. Many written discussions were spinoffs of these
debates. All of this led to many hundreds of people being brought out of
their denominational backgrounds and being baptized into Christ.

E. Considering the widespread
nature of these debates and their overwhelming influence, virtually all
members of the Lord's church today, if it were possible, could trace
their spiritual heritage back to one or more of these debates. Though
at first this may seem difficult to acknowledge, there is no doubt this
is an accurate observation. Looking back into restoration history, the
various congregations of the Lord's church merge together, even if only
remotely, through these many past debate endeavors.

F. By the middle of last century these debates were slowly dying out. Why
was this happening? There were two reasons: 1) Denominational preachers
who had debating skills were passing off the scene, and younger men,
unable to defend their false doctrines in public debate, were not
filling the void. 2) Leaders of denominational churches, after
witnessing their preachers unable to defend their creeds, were ceasing
to sponsor such events.

Reviving The Spirit Of The Debates

The day of restoration debates has passed. On occasion, debates
still occur, but their influence is limited. We cannot revive the
extensive debating that existed in earlier times, but we can revive the
spirit manifested by our preaching brethren through those earlier
debates.

In our pulpits we should duplicate the initiative propagated by
those preaching debaters of the past. We should emphasize what they
emphasized - - the identity of the one church, its unique nature and its
pure teachings. We should make it clear that the church is different
from denominational bodies. We should clearly explain the need for
restoring the church to the pattern of the New Testament.

This is something sorely lacking in some congregations, and because
of this many of our youth never hear of the oneness of the Lord's
church and how different it is from the denominational world. In some
congregations children grow up with the impression that we are no
different from the denominations around us. Why is this happening? It is
because such congregations have lost touch with the concept of
restoring the church. The zeal for explaining the true nature of the one
church, as contrasted with man-made religions, has departed from their
pulpits.

There is a great need for duplicating the spirit and motivation of
those earlier preachers. If we will devote more time in our pulpits to
stressing the unique oneness of the Lord's church and how truly
different it is, we can revive the restoration plea in the hearts of
God's people. We need more preaching like this! Congregations are more
evangelistic when the pulpits keep the unique identity of the church at
the forefront. By frequently emphasizing how the church is different,
our members, and especially our younger generations, will be filled with
more evangelistic fervor. It is my hope that as brethren are exposed to
the nature and substance of the religious discussions of the past, more
enthusiasm will result for telling lost people about the one way that
leads to eternal life.

After considerable time and with able assistance in converting these many documents to text, I am pleased to make a complete searchable index of these
debate reports available online. My hope is that brethren everywhere,
and especially younger preachers, might gain a greater appreciation for
the important role that religious debating played in the expansion of
the Lord's church in our recent past.